Stack and Heap Memory in C# with Examples - Dot Net Tutorials

If the value type was declared as a method parameter then it's stored on the stack. If the value type was declared as a member of a class then it's stored on ... 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Inthisarticle,IamgoingtodiscussStackandHeapMemoryinC#ApplicationwithExamples.Pleasereadourpreviousarticle,wherewediscussedtheCheckedandUncheckedKeywordsinC#withExamples.Aspartofthisarticle,first,wewilldiscusswhathappensinternallywhenwedeclareavariableofvaluetypesaswellasreferencetypes.Thenwewillmoveforwardandlearntwoimportantconceptsi.e.stackandheapmemoryaswellaswewilltalkaboutvaluetypesandreferencetypes. Whathappensinternallywhenwedeclareavariablein.NETApplication? Whenwedeclareavariableina.NETapplication,itallocatessomememoryintheRAM.ThememorythatitallocatesinRAMhasthreethingsareasfollows: Nameofthevariable, Thedatatypeofthevariable,and Valueofthevariable. Forbetterunderstanding,pleasehavealookatthefollowingimage.Here,wedeclareavariableoftypeintandassignavalue101. Theaboveimageshowsahigh-leveloverviewofwhathappeninginthememory.Butdependingonthedatatype(i.e.dependingonthevaluetypeandreferencetype),thememorymaybeallocatedeitherinthestackorintheheapmemory. UnderstandingStackandHeapMemoryinC#: Therearetwotypesofmemoryallocationforthevariablesthatwecreatedinthe.NETApplicationi.e.stackmemoryandheapmemory.Letusunderstandthestackandheapmemorywithanexample.Inordertounderstandstackandheap,pleasehavealookatthefollowingcode,andlet’sunderstandwhatactuallyhappensinthebelowcodeinternally. Asyoucanseeintheaboveimage,theSomeMethodhasthreestatements,let’sunderstandstatementbystatementhowthingsareexecutedinternally. Statement1: Whenthefirststatementisexecuted,thecompilerallocatessomememoryinthestack.Thestackmemoryisresponsibleforkeepingtrackoftherunningmemoryneededinyourapplication.Forbetterunderstanding,pleasehavealookatthefollowingimage. Statement2: Whenthesecondstatementisexecuted,itstacksthismemoryallocation(memoryallocationforvariabley)ontopofthefirstmemoryallocation(memoryallocationforvariablex).Youcanthinkaboutthestackasaseriesofplatesordishesputontopofeachother.Pleasehavealookatthefollowingdiagramforabetterunderstanding. TheStackMemoryallocationandde-allocationin.NETaredoneusingtheLastInFirstOutprinciple.Inotherwords,wecansaythatthememoryallocationandde-allocationaredoneonlyatoneendofthememory,i.e.,thetopofthestack. Statement3: Inthe3rdstatement,wehavecreatedanobjectofSomeClass.Whenthe3rdstatementisexecuted,itinternallycreatesapointeronthestackmemoryandtheactualobjectisstoredinadifferentmemorylocationcalledHeapmemory.Theheapmemorylocationdoesnottrackrunningmemory.Heapisusedfordynamicmemoryallocation.Forabetterunderstandingpleasehavealookatthebelowimage. Note:Thereferencepointersareallocatedonthestack.Thestatement,SomeClasscls1doesnotallocateanymemoryforaninstanceofSomeClass,itonlyallocatesavariablewiththenamecls1inthestackandsetsitsvaluetonull.Thetimeithitsthenewkeyword,itallocatesmemoryintheheap. Whathappenswhenthemethodcompletesitsexecution? Whenthethreestatementsareexecuted,thenthecontrolwillexistfromthemethod.Whenitpassestheendcontroli.e.theendcurlybrace“}”,itwillclearallthememoryvariableswhicharecreatedonthestack.Itwillde-allocatethememoryina‘LIFO’fashionfromthestack.Forabetterunderstandingpleasehavealookatthebelowimage. Itwillnotde-allocatetheheapmemory.Later,theheapmemorywillbede-allocatedbythegarbagecollector.Nowyoumayhaveonequestioninyourmindwhytwotypesofmemory,can’twejustallocateeverythingtojustonememorytype? Whydowehavetwotypesofmemory? Asweknow,inC#,theprimitivedatatypessuchasint,double,bool,etc.justholdasinglevalue.Ontheotherhand,thereferencedatatypesorobjectdatatypesarecomplexi.e.anobjectdatatypeorreferencedatatypecanhavereferencetootherobjectsaswellasotherprimitivedatatypes. So,thereferencedatatypeholdsreferencestoothermultiplevalues,andeachoneofthemmustbestoredinmemory.Objecttypesneeddynamicmemorywhileprimitivedatatypesneedstaticmemory.Pleasehavealookatthefollowingimageforabetterunderstanding. Valuetypesandreferencetypesin.NET AsweunderstoodtheconceptofStackandHeap,Now,letusmoveforwardandunderstandtheconceptvaluetypesandreferencetypesindetail.TheValuetypesarethetypesthatholdbothdataandmemoryinthesamelocation.Ontheotherhand,areferencetypeisatypethathasapointerthatpointstotheactualmemorylocation. UnderstandingValueTypeinC#: Letusunderstandvaluetypewithanexample.Pleasehavealookatthefollowingimage.Asyoucanseeintheimage,firstwecreateanintegervariablewiththenamexandthenweassignthisxintegervaluetoanotherintegervariablewhosenameisy.Inboththesememoryvaluesareallocatedonthestack. In.NET,whenweassignoneintegervariablevaluetoanotherintegervariable,thenitcreatesacompletelydifferentcopyinthestackmemorythat’swhatyoucanseeintheaboveimage.So,ifyouchangeonevariablevalue,thentheothervariablewillnotbeaffected.In.NETthesekindsofdatatypesarecalled‘Valuetypes’.So,bool,byte,char,decimal,double,enum,float,long,sbyte,int,short,ulong,struct,uint,ushortareexamplesofvaluetypes. UnderstandingReferenceTypeinC#: Letusunderstandreferencetypewithanexample.Pleasehavealookatthefollowingimage.Here,first,wecreateanobjecti.e.obj1)andthenassignthisobjecttoanotherobjecti.e.obj2.Inthiscase,bothreferencevariables(obj1andobj2)willpointtothesamememorylocation. Inthiscase,whenyouchangeoneofthem,theotherobjectisalsogetsaffected.Thesekindsofdatatypesaretermedas‘Referencetypes’in.NET.So,class,interface,object,string,anddelegateareexamplesofReferenceTypes. Howistheheapmemoryfreedup? Thememoryallocationwhichisdoneonthestackisgonewhenthecontrolmovesoutfromthemethodi.eoncethemethodcompletesitsexecution.Ontheotherhand,thememoryallocationwhichisdoneontheheapneedstobede-allocatedbythegarbagecollector. Whenanobjectstoredontheheapisnolongerused,thatmeanstheobjectdoesnothaveanyreferencepointing,thentheobjectiseligibleforgarbagecollection.Atsomepointintime,thegarbagecollectorwillde-allocatethisobjectfromtheheap. Inthenextarticle,IamgoingtodiscussBoxingandUnboxinginC#.NETwithExamples.Here,inthisarticle,ItrytoexplainStackandHeapMemoryinC#withExamples.IhopeyouenjoythisStackandHeapMemoryinC#withExamplesarticle.Iwouldliketohaveyourfeedback.Pleasepostyourfeedback,question,orcommentsaboutthisarticle. PreviousLesson Checked and Unchecked KeywordsinC# NextLesson BoxingandUnboxinginC# 15thoughtson“StackandHeapMemoryinC#” NiceexplanationsirReply Thankyouforfindingthisarticlehelpful.Reply muchmoreunderstandingReply Ilovethissite,eachandeverythingisexplainverywell.Alltopicarecoveredbythissitenoneedtogoanywherejustreaditcarefully.ThankstomakeitReply Thankyousomuch.Yourfeedbackmeansalotus.Reply Nicearticles.Iamveryeasytounderstandtheseconcepts.BoxingandUnboxinginthe.NETconceptaremissinginthenextarticle.pleasepostthisarticle.Reply Hi,Thankyouforyourfeedback.WewilladdtheBoxingandUnboxingtopicsverysoon.Reply Veryhelpful,verydetailedforinterviewpreparationReply Thankyousomuchforgivingyourvaluablefeedback.Reply NiceArticlesir…withaunderstandableexamplesReply Yourfeedbackmotivatesustowritesucharticlesindepth.Reply Niceexplanationsir,asasignofgratitude,Icanonlyclickonadssoyoucanbeevenmoreenthusiasticaboutmakingmorein-deptharticlesabout.net,ican’twaitthearticleaboutBoxingandUnboxingconceptin.net,thankyouverymuchReply Yourfeedbackisalotofmeanstous.Inthecomingdays,youwillseeBoxingandUnboxingarticlesalongwithallthemissingarticles.Currently,wearereworkingonthesetutorials.Reply Hi,thanksfornicetutorial.Iwouldliketoaddsomeinfoaboutvaluetypesandstack.Valuetypesareonlystoredonthestackiftheyarelocalvariablesinsideamethod,ortheirparameters.Thisiswhatthestackistherefor:storinglocalvariablesandparameters(andthereturnpointersoffunctioncalls).Ifthevaluetypewasdeclaredasavariableinsideamethodthenit’sstoredonthestack.Ifthevaluetypewasdeclaredasamethodparameterthenit’sstoredonthestack.Ifthevaluetypewasdeclaredasamemberofaclassthenit’sstoredontheheap,alongwithitsparent.Ifthevaluetypewasdeclaredasamemberofastructthenit’sstoredwhereverthatstructisstored.Reply HiBARNABAS.666,Thanksforyourvaluableinput.Peopleslikeyoumotivateustowritemoreandmorecontent..Reply LeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*Comment*Name*Email*Website